The personality and cognitive correlates of creative achievement

The personality traits and creative achievement of 96 individuals were assessed using self­-report questionnaires. Creative potential was assessed with Divergent Thinking tests and a short version of the Remote Associates Test. Four factors of personality were extracted with Principal Component Analysis. One factor (“Ideational Fluency”) emerged from the 6 divergent thinking tests. Relationships between personality factors and scores on the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ), with its subsections CAQ Science and CAQ Art, “Ideational Fluency”, Insight Problems were explored with multiple regression, showing personality differences associated with artistic and scientific creativity. The relationship between creative potential and creative achievement was explored, showing cognitive differences between artistic and scientific achievers. A brief discussion of the relationship between sex and scientific achievement is presented. It is suggested that cognitive traits, rather than personality, mediate this relationship. Finally, it is argued that similar cognitive traits account for creative production at all levels of achievement.